Pumping apparatus



Oct. 28, 1941,, J. M. McDANlEL PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor I famed .07. Mfiaa/ef.

Oct. 28, 1947. .J. M. McDANlEL PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Viv/Ill) .I/ll/Id O i/Zmzea M. M Daniel:

1{ @vw dam yaw 3m m g a m z a Q 00 Y 00000 I Z M H 0 m w 3 M 3 2 2 2 Patented Oct. 28, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a pumping apparatus and more particularly to the pumping of petroleum products.

In the ordinary practice of pumping petroleum products, particularly in the pumping of such products out of deep wells, it is necessary to lift the liquid many thousands of feet, in fact it is not infrequent that such wells will reachas far as fifteen thousand (15,000) into the earth and consequently highly efficient pumping apparatus involving a tremendous investment in labor and materials has heretofore been necessary in order to maintain an adequate supply of the petroleum products from such wells. Also in the transportation of petroleum products by pipe line it is necessary to install at frequent intervals throughout the length of the line pumping apparatus to insure the proper flow of the liquid through the pipe line. It can therefore be seen that in the pumping of wells and the transportation of the products thereof for long distances through pipe lines a tremendous capital investment is involved in the pumping apparatus alone.

The primary object of the present invention is economically and efficiently to pump petroleum products from deep wells and through long pipe lines. I

Another object is to effect great savings in labor by reducing to a minimum the amount of maintenance necessary to preserve the pumping apparatus in operative condition.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among it features pumping liquid by admitting it into a closed chamber, vaporizing at a portion of the liquid s admitted, when the vapor pressure in the chamber attains a predetermined value discharging the content of the chamber and directing the discharge material along a predetermined course.

Other features include the automatic discharge of the chamber by the building of the vapor pressure up to or beyond a predetermined point.

Still other features include a pumping system having a chamber with an intake port and a dispressure in they chamber exceeds a predetermined point, means to arrest the movement of the valve member while permitting the sleeve to move under the initial inertia imparted to it so as to open the discharge passage and permit the discharge of the content of the chamber into the discharge passage from whence it may be directed according to the desires of the user.

Still further features include electrical heating means by which the liquid within the chamber may be heated so as to increase its vapor pressure and cause its discharge through the discharge valve automatically.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View of a well showing this improved pumping apparatus in place therein,

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the pumping apparatu as it would appear when employed in a pipe line,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure l on a somewhat enlarged scale,

Figure 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through the pumping unit,

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the lever end of the pumping unit,

Figure -6 is an enlarged detail sectional view through the foot valves,

Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the upper end of the pumping unit showing the discharge valve in open position, and

Figure 8 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 88 of Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings in detail a well designated generally I5 is lined with the customary well casing l6 and leadingupwardly from the bottom of the well to the surface is the usual pipe of conduit I! through which the liquid from the well flows to the surface. Surrounding the conduit intermediate its upper and lower ends is the usual sealing plug l8 of conventional form which forms a seal between the conduit and the casing so as to confine any vapors below the seal all in the conventional manner.

Attached to the lower end of the conduit I! in the conventional manner is my improved well pumping apparatus designated generally l9 which is provided at its lower end with the usual anchor 20 which comprises a perforated pipe of any suitable length which is normally embedded in the oil and gas bearing sands found at the bottom of the well. Threaded or otherwise attached to the upper end of the anchor 20 is a fitting 2| carrying adjacent its lower end a valve seat 22 upon which a ball valve 23 i adapted to rest. A spring 24 bears on the ball valve 23 to hold it against the seat 22 and the upper end of this spring bears on a cage 25 held in the fitting 2| in any suitable manner so as to provide a check valve for admission of the liquid into the chamber to be more. fully hereinafter described.

The upper endof' the fitting 2| is provided with an internally screw threaded socket 28 into which the externally screw threaded tubular boss 21 formed at the lower end of a hollow cylindrical body 28 forming the heating chamber of the pump is received. The heating chamber: is oflany. suit.- able length and contains a perforated axially extending tubular member 29 serving-as asup port for electrical resistance coils 30 which. are

contained within the heating chamber as will bereadily understood upon reference to Figure 4. The upper end'of the body 28*isprovided with an-internally screw threaded socket 3| into which an externally screw threaded boss3-2 of a dis charge valve unit designated generally 33 is adapted-to-be received.- Theinterior oftheboss 32isinternally screw threa'ded'as at 34 to receive with an internally screw threaded shoulder 3.

by means of which a perforated-stop or'cage 38 is supported therein. This cage isprovided with a longitudinal opening 39" arranged inaxial alignment with the'longitudinal' axis of thebody'36 and slidably mounted in the opening 39 is thevalve stem 40' ofa-poppet valve designatedgenerally 4 The lower end of the stem 40 isthreaded to receive a stop nut 42 which is adaptedtoengage the bot-- tom side of the cage 39 to limit the upward-movement of thevalveas willbe more fullyhereinafter described. Carried at-the-endof'theval'vestem 40 opposite that carrying the nut 42- is a valve head 43 provided-with anupwardly tapered seat- 44*upon-which a sleeve 45"'-is seated as will beunderstood upon reference to Figure 4 This" sleeve 45 is mounted for longitudinal slidingmovement'ina bore 46 which-communicates with the interior of the body 36 and is normally urged against the tapered end 44 f the head 43"of "the valve=4|by means of a compression coilspring 41which bears'on the end of 'the sleeve 45"opposite that which engages the seat 44, while the opposite end of the-spring'bears on a suitable stop member 43 carried bya tubular extension 49 formedat the end of the-body oppositethe boss 32- and'which is connected to the discharge "pipe IT; A cushioning spring 59 rests'on the cage 39' so that when-the valve 41 settles back on the cage 38- the shock thereof will be absorbed;

The heating coil'33=is connected by means of' a cable to anysuitable source of power supply,

which cable extends 'upwardlythrough a suitable" packing gland'52in the body 3Bto the upper end of the well andthenceto the'source' of power (not shown). It will be understood ofcourse that the cable 5| contains the customary conductors forconveyingelectrical power from the power source to the heating coil all in-the conventional manner.

Supported in any suitable manneras-by internal screw threads 53 in spacedrelation tothe valve cage 38 is an externally screw threaded sleeve54; onthe upper end of which a ballcheck' valve 55 is adapted to rest. In actual practice this ball check valve is located about 10 to 12 inches below the lower end of the valve 4| when the latter is in the position shown in Figure 4 and cooperates therewith during the discharge of the device in preventing pressure created in the system above the discharge valve 33 from entering the heating chamber.

'I heoperation of the device. is as follows, assumingithat thepumping unit i9 has been lowered into the bottom of a well and is connected tothe discharge pipe I! in the conventional manner it will be evident that the fluid in the well willfl'ow-i'nto the chamber in the interior of the cylindrical body, 28 through the check valve formed by the ball 23 and seat 22 so as to fill or'partially fill the chamber. This flow of oil into thechamber is aided by the vapor pressure built up below the packing l8 within the well casing and once the chamber has been filled or partially filled the heating coils 30-will-raise the temperature -of the surrounding liquidtending to vaporize the latter with the result that the vapor pressurewithin the chamber will be increased to a point whereacting against the head 43 of the valve 41 it willliftthe valve 41 and sleeve- 45' against thespring 4'1 with considerable force.

Upon the driving-upward of the valve-4| and the sleeve 45"the stop nut/42" will encounter the cage 38-'sc as to limit further upward movement of the valve 4|", but due to the movement imparted to the-sleeve 45 and its inertia it is obvious that it willunseat'fronrthevalve seat 44 asillustratedin Figure '7 thus allowing the contents of the heating-chamber to dischargethrough the'discharge'passage or bore of the sleeve 45' and pass upwardly into thepipe l1; Due to=the friction of thefi'owing materials against the'sl'eeve 45'it will be-held upwardly against the compression of thespring'fl for a sufiicient period of time to permit'the' escape-of the contents of the heating chamber and when-the pressure has sufliciently subsided the sleevewill fallback upon the seat 44 of theva'lve 41 and return it to the position illustratedin Figure 5 ready for a repeat operation;- Bythus loweringthe pressure in the heating chamber the surrounding oil again flows into the chamber through the valveconnected to the anchor '20' and when 'a sufficient amount of "oil has been received within the chamber and is heated to a, point sufficient to raisethe vapor pressure therein-again to a predet'erminedpoint the cycle of operation willbe repeated.

Obviously the device may be employed-in a pipe line- 5T between reservoirs 58 and as many such units may be'interposed' in the line as may be required topump the oil from one to the other.

Frornthe foregoing it'is obvious that a simple automatically functioning pumping unit is'provided and it is evident that as many such units as' may be necessary may be introduced into a well as well as in a pipe line in order to maintain the-well production at capacity.

While in the foregoing there has been shown' and' described" the preferred embodiment of this invention it isto be understood that minor changes in the details of'construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be'resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1'. In apumping system-a chamber having an intake port and a discharge port; a liquid admittin checkvalve associated with the intake port movable in the chamber in axial alignment with the discharge port a valve, and movable axially through the discharge port and seated on the valve a sleeve having an axial discharge passage which is normally closed by the valve; means to increase the vapor pressure of the liquid in the chamber to drive the valve and sleeve in unison toward the outlet end of the discharge port; and means to arrest such movement of the valve and allow the sleeve to move to unseated position on the valve whereby the discharge passage through the sleeve will be cleared for the discharge of the contents of the chamber.

2. In a pumping system a chamber having an intake port and a discharge port; a liquid admitting check valve associated with the intake port; movable in the chamber in axial alignment with the discharge port a valve, and movable axially through the discharge port and seated on the valve a sleeve having an axial discharge passage which is normally closed by the valve; means yieldingly to hold the sleeve seated on the valve; means to increase the vapor pressure of the liquid in the chamber to drive the valve and sleeve in unison toward the outlet end of the discharge port; and means to arrest such movement of the valve and allow the sleeve to move to unseated position on the valve whereby the passage through the sleeve will be cleared for the discharge of the contents of the chamber.

3. In a pumping system a chamber having an intake port and a discharge port; a liquid admitting check valve associated with the intake port; movable in the chamber in axial alignment with the discharge port a valve, and movable axially through the discharge port and seated on the valve a sleeve having an axial discharge passage which is normally closed by the valve; means yieldingly to hold the sleeve seated on the valve; heating means in the chamber for elevating the temperature of the liquid therein and thereby increasing the vapor pressure thereof to drive the valve and sleeve in unison toward the outlet end of the discharge port; and means to arrest such movement of the valve and allow the sleeve to move to unseated position on the valve whereby the passage through the sleeve will be cleared for the discharge of the contents of the chamber.

JAMES M. McDANIEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 572,449 Rich Dec. 1, 1896 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 43,191 Austria 1910 

